Staying Connected During Hurricane Season: How Backup Generators Can Prevent Internet Outages
During hurricane season, our most critical business continuity challenge is maintaining internet connectivity when the power infrastructure fails. As we've all experienced, even brief internet outages can significantly impact operations, customer communication, and remote work capabilities.
The primary reason internet service fails during hurricanes is power loss. While many assume their internet provider's infrastructure is the weak point, often it's simply that our on-premises networking equipment (modems, routers, switches) loses power. Additionally, battery backups for these devices typically provide only 1-2 hours of runtime.
A robust backup generator solution can prevent these internet disruptions. Here's what I've found works best:
Properly sized generators: Ensure your generator has sufficient capacity to power critical networking equipment, not just emergency lighting. Calculate your total power requirements, including servers, workstations, networking gear, and cooling equipment.
Automatic transfer switches detect power loss and seamlessly switch to generator power, eliminating manual intervention during potentially dangerous conditions.
Dedicated circuits: Install dedicated electrical circuits for your networking equipment, which are connected directly to your generator's protected power.
Regular maintenance: Test your generator monthly and perform comprehensive maintenance quarterly. Nothing is worse than discovering your backup power solution doesn't work when you need it most.
Fuel considerations: For extended outages, consider how you'll refuel. Natural gas generators eliminate this concern, while diesel or propane generators require refueling plans.
During last year's hurricane season, our Bald Head Island
office maintained continuous operations through a 72-hour outage thanks to our comprehensive generator setup. Meanwhile, several neighboring businesses without proper backup power lost connectivity and had to suspend operations.
Has anyone else implemented effective generator solutions for maintaining internet connectivity during hurricanes? What specific equipment or configuration has worked best for your business?